A TWILIGHT ZONE MOMENT
by ULYFERAL
Summary: A truly weird moment for a human and a thoroughly put out Chief Enforcer.
1. Chapter 1

**A TWILIGHT ZONE MOMENT**

Chapter 1: Not in Kansas Anymore

_Author's Note: A weird something that popped in my head while making dinner. Seems my best stories come from when I'm preoccupied with something else in my life. This is in first person and a short story._

I was warned this might be dangerous but I pushed that possible threat away in my mind, justifying it as the need to push the boundaries of possibilities as far as I could.

Since none of my colleagues wanted anything to do with my project, I took to working on it in the wee hours of the morning. No one questioned me about my night owl hours as long as I worked on the legitimate projects I had already on my plate. This was strictly on my own time even though I was using company money to accomplish it.

Tonight, I just knew I was on the edge of a breakthrough. I stepped up to my accelerator and placed the helmet on my head. I had already checked the celestial heavens for the anomaly I'd mapped out more than a year ago. It was just coming into its optimum position at this very moment. If I wanted to succeed, it had to be now or it would be years before the anomaly would reappear.

The human brain is an amazing thing but it is also extremely fragile. I hoped what I was attempting to do would not leave me a drooling idiot. Taking in a deep breath, I watched my computer screen that sat next to me, for the right moment. As soon as the anomaly came into my triangulation matrix in my program, I pressed the entry key and prayed.

All around me my accelerator revved up. The room got brighter and brighter then an impossibly bright light went off and my mind shot away like a race car. My body remained seated in its chair but my mind was off through space at a phenomenal rate. I was terrified and excited at the same time as I literally witnessed the universe whiz by me. I was trying to prove it was possible to see beyond our world with only our minds. If we could see what's out there we could know if space travel was worth the expense. Also we would become more aware of just what was out there in the first place.

I was so wrapped up in what my mind was being bombarded with that I nearly forgot why I was here. I had set my computer to bring me back after five minutes exposure. I sincerely hoped it did not fail or I would never be coming back.

I saw our solar system rush by and then I was out past the milky way when I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my brain. I screamed then everything went dark.

When I woke, I was shocked. Where was I? I was laying on my back in what looked like a bedroom somewhere. It certainly wasn't mine. I slowly sat up and got another shock...I was covered in fur...wait a minute...this wasn't my body at all...sheer panic rose up to try and strangle me when suddenly a voice growled.

"What the hell is going on? Who are you?" It asked in a mixture of fear and anger. The head I was looking out of turned this way and that in a frantic need to see who was there. "I don't see you but I feel you somehow? Explain now?" It barked even more stridently.

Still terrified myself, I realized I must be in the body of someone or something else and he was becoming panicky. I could hardly blame him.

"I...I..I'm sorry! Please calm down. I'm as scared as you!" I stuttered trying to soothe him. I needed some answers quickly.

"Who are you...where are you?" He demanded again, making an effort to rein in his own fear.

"I'm sorry but I think I'm here inside your mind..." I tried to explain but he exploded.

"You're what??" Came a deep growl.

It was weird but this guy sounded like a cat of some kind. A human couldn't make those type of noises. This was just getting more strange by the moment. I tried again.

"I'm apparently sharing space in your mind. I was experimenting with sending my mind outside of my solar system when something went wrong. When I woke up, it was to see out of your eyes." I explained.

The guy went silent. I was glad I couldn't really read his mind despite taking space in it. His mind was really weird and made no sense to me.

Suddenly, I felt him getting up and moving toward what looked like an ordinary bathroom. He turned and looked into a mirror. I screamed. He shook his head and closed his eyes groaning.

"Stop that! It hurts!" The cat-like creature growled in pain.

I did but it was really hard. What I had seen was an upright talking cat creature. He had a rectangular face, heavy chin, long sharp fangs, gold eyes, black hair in a buzz cut, and was dark furred. I was on another world or dimension where cats were as intelligent as humans. I was definitely not in Kansas. Oh my god, how was I going to go home?

"I'm sorry! Your appearance was a shock to me. You look just like an intelligent cat. We have cats on our world but they are not intelligent. They come in all different types, some more deadlier than others," I babbled on, too shaken to be coherent.

"That's interesting and all but that still doesn't explain what you are doing here and in my head." The cat said flatly.

How could he be so cool about this? I'd be going out of my mind by now. "You certainly are acting rather calm about this." I commented cautiously.

He snorted. "Unfortunately, the strange is very common here. Though, I will admit this is even stranger than most things I deal with. I am Commander Ulysses Feral, Chief Enforcer for Megakat City on the planet called Aristal." He told me.

I was surprised. Maybe I'll find a way home after all, if the strange is common here. I was pleased that he was willing to tell me who he was and where I am.

"Thank you! My name is Jerome Sedler, I'm a scientist from a planet called Earth." I told him.

"A scientist! Wonderful!" He said rather sarcastically. "I've had nothing but problems from scientists. Their inventions have caused nothing but problems for my enforcers whenever they run amok or are stolen by criminals and create havoc.."

I felt like I'd been insulted but when he said that runaway experiments were the reason, I kept silent. How could I feel angry by his attitude when I'd just done that same thing to him.

"Alright, you've had an accident with your experiment and you need to find a way to undo or go back to where you came from...is that about the gist of it?" He asked in annoyance.

I might have blinked if I had my own eyes. He realized the problem immediately. He hadn't been kidding when he said he was very familiar with this scenario. I'm glad one of us was because I didn't have a clue how to undo what had happened and I certainly didn't know why it had happened in the first place.

"Uhm, I know you don't want to hear this but...uh...I have no idea how I came to be here and certainly no idea how to leave. Sorry!" I said humbly.

"Perfect!" Feral growled in resigned disgust. "Well, I have to get to work. You will focus your attention on how to leave. Don't interfere with me at any time. My work is dangerous and you could very easily cause me to get killed. Understood?" He demanded bluntly.

"Yes sir!" I said meekly. What else could I do? It was his body, after all.

'Kat's Alive! What a day this is going to be!' Feral sighed mentally.

I tried to keep my mental eyes turned away while the huge male got on with the business of getting ready for work. Of course, I couldn't shut my ears to what he was doing...talk about really embarrassing.

I didn't work on my problem for a little while. How often do you get to see another world? I watched avidly through Feral's eyes at the strange world I had dropped into.

I was amazed at how much his world resembled ours in certain ways. Everyday things were exactly like our; furniture, apartment design, electronics (like his TV, razor, handheld radio and cell phone), appliances, even some of the food stuffs (like coffee, toast, eggs, bacon, milk). They certainly tasted the same. It felt truly weird tasting what he was eating. His taste buds were more sensitive than humans so the food had more flavor. His sense of smell was also much better than mine. I was almost overwhelmed by the different odors, thankfully, he didn't stink..

As we reached his vehicle, that's when I started to see the differences. His car seemed a cross between an old ford of the 1930's and a modern gullwing sports car. What shocked me the most was it ran on something other than gas because it made hardly any noise except a loud hum when he started it up.

"Excuse me! But I just have to ask...what does this car run on?" I asked cautiously.

Feral snorted in annoyance but answered readily enough. "Nuclear power."

I was speechless. If I could find out how they managed to harness that to run a car, I'd be a trillionaire back home. I knew better than to ask Feral though. I'd have to hope for a more relaxed moment to see if he'd be willing to let me see some schematics on their vehicles.

Except for no real noises but those made by the movement of the tires, machinery, and people talking it could have been in my own home town. The city was huge, their traffic resembled ours with traffic lights, pedestrians, trucks, and buses. There were the fairly normal looking stores, factories and businesses but with a cat-like motif to them.

I was so caught up in my sightseeing that I was surprised when we stopped. Feral parked his car at the base of what looked like a huge building. I couldn't tell since he never looked up.

He swung the huge door open and I was bombarded with the noises of what looked like a police station with a military bent to it.

Feral headed straight to a bank of elevators and pressed the button for the top floor. Decanting when the door opened again, he strode down a short hall to another large door. Just before he got there a cat with long black hair with an eye-catching white strip through it called out to Feral.

"Good morning, Uncle." Came a surprisingly nice sounding female voice.

Feral continued on into his office followed by his niece. "Good morning, Felina. What can I do for you?" He asked over his shoulder as he took off his coat and hung it up.

"I may have a possible lead on that snatch and grab Chop Shop got away with yesterday." Felina said grimly.

Feral raised an eyebrow at her as he paused in his motion to go to a pedestal desk. "Let's hear it!" He demanded, tilting his head at her.

While she proceeded to give him a report, I took the opportunity to study Feral's niece. She had less fur on her face than he did with a pert nose and brown eyes. I would venture to guess she would be considered beautiful by her kind. She wore some kind of tight uniform. I blinked when I realized she was wearing some kind of body armor and was carrying a weird kind of pistol.

When I returned my attention back to their conversation, Feral was giving her orders. Felina saluted smartly and about faced, leaving his office briskly. Feral moved to his desk and sat down. I winced when I saw the huge pile of reports there waiting for him.

He sighed and I couldn't blame him. I hate paperwork. As he dug into his work, I sighed mentally too. This would get very boring really quickly, so I turned my attention on trying to solve my problem.

After an hour or so of going over every step I'd taken and analyzing what I'd seen on the way here, I still couldn't figure out how I got in this place. I kept a firm grip on my fear. It would be way too easy to give into panic. I didn't want to think about the chance I may never be able to go home. That was just too terrible to contemplate but just what was I going to do about my situation?


	2. Chapter 2

**A TWILIGHT ZONE MOMENT**

Chapter 2: The Adventure Ends

It was hours later by the time Feral finished his seemingly endless paperwork. He got up from his desk with a handful of reports in his hand. He stepped out of his office and dumped them in a basket on his secretary's desk.. No one was there.

Returning to his office, he pulled his jacket back on and went out again, closing his door behind him. Stopping at the secretary's desk once more, this time there was someone there, a female that resembled a calico cat was just going through the files Feral had left.

"Karen, I'm going to my meeting at the Mayor's office." He told her.

"Yes sir!"

He headed for the elevators again and after a quick trip back down to the noisy lobby we were once more outside. I noted the sky was a strange greenish color rather than blue like ours. He climbed into his car and we were soon wending our way through traffic.

Through the windshield I watched in fascination as a huge building came into view. It had a clock tower at its top. Apparently this was city hall because Feral parked in a spot meant for his car, out front. We went up the broad steps and into a busy hive of subdued noise, typical I think of all government offices. We went to the elevator bank and entered the first car that opened. Feral pushed the button for the top floor, no surprise there.

The elevator stopped many times and Feral seemed to be in a world of his own, so I used his eyes to study the many kinds of cats that came off and on. It was amazing how much they looked like the house cats of my world except these guys walked and talked just like us.

The elevator stopped a floor before our destination and a blond female with glasses got on.

"Hello, Commander." The female said.

"Good day, Ms. Briggs. I trust this meeting will be brief?" Feral asked gruffly.

"It should be." She said lightly, looking through some papers she was holding.

"Is Manx going to be there."

"Yes."

"Then its going to be short!" Feral said with certainty.

The female gave a snort. "You know him too well." She said with a sour note in her voice.

Feral just grunted. I wondered what that was all about. The elevator opened and the two of them stepped out and walked down a richly decorated hallway. Obviously this was where the top politicians worked. I wondered who this Ms. Briggs was...the Mayor's secretary perhaps?

The two of them entered a huge office with a deep green carpet where a portly cat was playing golf. I blinked mentally at that. They played golf too?

Feral rumbled in annoyance in his throat. He apparently didn't like this cat much. Must be their Mayor.

"Can we get on with what you needed to see me about, Mayor?" Feral growled impatiently.

"Of course, Feral. Just one moment!" The portly cat said in an accent, I swear, was Irish sounding. He finished hitting the ball into a catcher making a hole in one. "Yes!" He cheered himself. He went to a golf bag that leaned against a wall behind his desk and put the club away.

"Now. I called you here to discuss your security plans for protecting the crown jewels from the Tansineer Empire that will be on show here next week." Manx stated plainly, looking up at Feral for an answer.

Feral sighed in annoyance. "Everything has been taken care of. I have extra security scheduled to be there around the clock while the crown is here. It will be heavily guarded when it arrives and travels from the airport to the museum and back again." Feral said bluntly.

"Excellent. I don't want anything to go wrong. It's a frequent occurrence around here and that's why other countries are unwilling to send things here. Tansineer is the first to take a chance. I want to show them we can be trusted to protect their valuable artifacts." Manx said pompously.

"I have done all I can to protect it, Mayor Manx but there's absolutely nothing I can do to prevent an omega from deciding this is something they need for some mad plan of theirs." Feral grunted.

"Don't' even say it! I don't want this jinxed." The Mayor said tightly.

Feral just rolled his eyes.

"Well that's all I needed from you. Go on about your business." The Mayor waved a negligent paw in his direction, dismissing the Commander.

Feeling put upon, Feral turned and left. 'He could have just told me that over the phone.' Feral thought angrily.

He was reaching the elevator when a scream sent him running back the way he'd come, pulling his formidable weapon from his harness. I was scared. What the heck was going on?

When Feral arrived back at the Mayor's office they were greeted by a weird and ugly looking thing that stood only three feet high, wore a cloak, had one eye, and was wielding a watch that emitted a powerful glow. What the heck?

"Pastmaster!" Feral shouted then ducked to avoid getting blasted.

A raspy voice cackled. "Stay out of this Feral. Ms. Briggs is all I want." It said while keeping a tight hold on the blond female's wrist.

To my surprise, the female, grabbed something off her desk...her purse...and began to beat the creature over the head with it. It hissed angrily and shoved her away from him and into the arms of a flying gargoyle. (Say what?) Man this place is getting creepier by the moment.

Weirdo aimed the watch in our direction again and it looked like Feral wasn't going to be able to get out of the way fast enough.

"Drop to the floor. It will miss you!" I shouted in fright.

Feral startled. He must have forgotten me but thankfully he did drop to the floor and the beam swept over him harmlessly.

Before the creep could fire another blast his way, Feral shot his pistol at him with stunning accuracy, sending the watch flying out of the creatures hand (claw?). It was then I realized this thing was a walking skeleton. I'm glad too much was going on for me to panic because this shit was really getting to me.

As if all this wasn't bad enough, through the window two colorful figures crashed into the room, sending glass flying everywhere. One of them fired something from his wrist toward the little ghoul encasing him in some kind of tar like material. The other, much bigger cat, used his device to fire what looked like an honest to goodness missile that struck the stone gargoyle and released the blond female.

Finally, peace reigned. Feral got back on his feet, gathered up the strange pocket watch and glared at the pair of masked cats.

"We didn't need your help SWAT Kats." He growled furiously.

"Sorta looked like you did, Feral." The bigger of the cats said in lazy sarcasm.

I kinda thought he was right. Their interference stopped the attack quickly. I couldn't understand Feral's anger. Had some history with these guys, obviously.

"Are you alright Ms. Briggs?" Said the smaller of the masked cats who was helping the blond to her feet.

"Yes, thanks Razor. I wonder what he wanted me for this time." She sighed in annoyance.

Apparently the little ghoul had a thing for this blond.

"I think it has a lot to do with the fact you look a lot like Queen Callista. The Pastmaster has a real thing for her but she wouldn't give him the time of day." Razor said.

"Oh, yes that's the Queen in the past you said you met. But she has magic to keep him at bay, I only have you and I'm glad you were around." Ms. Briggs said making goo goo eyes at the pair.

The past? Magic? These guys had managed to visit their past? Wow! What a place this was. I frowned at the way this blond cat was fawning over the colorful pair. It's obvious they liked to flirt since the pair was blushing at her comment.

"Well we better get going. I guess you can take it from here, Feral." The big cat said with a nasty smile.

I think I'm not liking this guy much. He's soo arrogant. Feral apparently agrees because he's gritting his teeth hard enough to make a grinding noise.

The pair of masked cats strode past us all and disappeared through the office door. A quavering voice came from behind the Mayor's desk.

"Is it over?"

"Yes Mayor Manx. You can come out now." Ms. Briggs said, rolling her eyes. The Mayor was obviously a coward as he crawled out from under this desk.

Feral just snorted, dropping the watch in his pocket, he walked over to the ghoul stuck to the far wall. "Wonderful! I hate this stuff that damn pair uses. It works but you can't get it off that well to take the prisoner in." He grumbled to himself.

"At least he is caught, Commander." Ms. Briggs said tartly.

"I had already disarmed him, Ms. Briggs before the SWAT Kats came bursting in, breaking glass, and making yet another mess I have to clean up." He said bitterly. Ah Hah! So that's why he's so miffed by them. I'd be pissed too.

"You did Commander, nice shooting but the Pastmaster was still loose and I was still being held by that stone monster." She said.

"You know, no matter what I do, you are never happy unless your vigilantes come blasting in to save you!" Feral growled angrily. "I get so fed up with it. Next time why don't you just save yourself."

The blond's eyes widened. "Well, you've certainly lost your manners and your cool, as usual." She sniffed in annoyance then turned and left the room.

The Mayor had also left. His golf club bag conspicuously missing.

"I really can't stand that she-kat's attitude. The way she fawns over that pair is undermining my authority." He grumbled to himself as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his radio.

"I have to say, I agree with you. How come she can say those things to you? Isn't she the Mayor's secretary?" I asked innocently.

Feral choked with laughter for a moment. Shaking himself, he said , "Secretary? HAHAHAH! Oh she would not like to have someone call her that. She's the Deputy Mayor."

"Oh! Wow!" I said in surprise then added. "Well, She's a bitch." I observed. Apparently I'm just hilarious because Feral went off in another gale of laughter.

"Stop! You're killing me! I haven't had such a good laugh in a while." Feral said trying to regain his composure.

"Well, I'm glad to help ease your mood." I said warmly.

Feral snorted at that then cleared his throat and spoke into his radio. He called for back up to come and take the prisoner. I watched in fascination as his officers arrived, efficiently peeled the Pastmaster from the wall and cleaned up the remains of the gargoyle, taking it as evidence.

Back at his office, he carefully locked up the strange pocket watch and began his report on the incident. The rest of the day was dull so I tried to sorta of nap.

It was late when Feral finally quit for the day and went home. He picked up some take out and made his weary way to his apartment. I kept my mental eyes closed as he showered and prepared for bed. Once comfortably dressed in a robe, he lay on his bed, watching TV and eating his meal.

I watched the TV with interest. It was uncanny how similar it was to our programming. When he'd finished eating and was just relaxing, I dared to interrupt his thoughts.

"Could we talk for a little?" I asked hesitantly.

Feral was silent for a moment. "Okay, I guess you have a lot to ask. I would have a lot of questions too if I were in your position." He finally consented.

I was warmed by that response. "Thank you. I do actually."

For the next couple of hours we talked about nearly everything about our worlds. We traded information too. He was grateful for some of the different ideas about how we solved our problems on my world that might help him here. He told me what he knew of how their cars worked.

It was getting very late when Feral had to call a halt to the conversation.

"Sorry, but I need my sleep." He said with a yawn.

"Oh, yes of course. Sorry. I was soo fascinated I forgot how late it was getting. Thank you for indulging in my curiosity." I said apologetically.

"You're welcome. Good night!" He said gruffly. It took him about fifteen minutes before he succumbed to sleep at last.

With his eyes closed, I was locked in darkness and the fear I had held at bay for so long, came rushing forward. What was I to do now? Before panic could really set in, something strange happened. I felt my mind being drawn away. Soon I was traveling at hyper speed again but where was I going?

I couldn't stop what was happening, lights, sounds, crashed in on me making me deaf and blind. Then suddenly it was over. I opened my eyes slowly and was amazed. I was home again sitting in my machine as if I had never left. I looked to my right and saw the timer had gone off only moments ago.

I sat there in stunned disbelief. According to my clock I had been gone the five minutes I had set it for. How had I been gone only five minutes when I'd experienced a nearly eighteen hour period with Feral? Had I gone through to another dimension where time was different than here?

All I had were questions but no answers. Had it really all happened? Yes! I refused to believe I could dream up something so fantastic. But how could I report this? No one would believe me. I had no proof.

I continued to sit there in a stunned stupor. Finally, I shook myself. All that data I'd gotten from Ulysses, I needed to write down before I forgot it. Getting stiffly up from my seat, I made for my recorder and repeated everything I could remember of what he had told me.

When I'd finished, I popped the disk out and stared at it then looked over at my machine. Tomorrow, I would dismantle it. It was far too dangerous... my colleagues had been right, but I wouldn't trade the experience I'd been through for anything. I would use the information I'd gotten and make a name for myself that way and it was all thanks to a strange cat name Feral on another world in another dimension.

I smiled...I would miss that guy!

Far away on another planet in another dimension, Feral woke up and waited a moment. There was no sensation of another in his head now.

"Hello? Are you there?" He asked but there was no answer. He sighed both in relief and in sadness. He was glad he wasn't possessed any longer but he would miss the stranger who had made him laugh. Then he remembered all the things Jerome had told him. He threw his blankets off and padded to his living area. Finding his recorder he began to relate everything he'd been told. When he'd finished, he removed the tape and stared at it. The information on this was priceless. If he could apply the things Jerome had told him he would finally be able to catch the omegas himself without the aid of the SWAT Kats. It would restore his reputation.

He smiled...he would miss that strange creature. He hoped Jerome had returned safely to his far away home.

Five minutes of time, strangely twisted, gave two creatures from two different dimensions a moment of camaraderie and hope for the future. They had stepped out of reality and into the Twilight Zone and their lives were changed forever.


End file.
